Uzbek Terror Suspect Challenges U.S. Surveillance Program

An Uzbek man living in Colorado has become the first defendant to challenge the constitutionality of the U.S. National Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless surveillance program.

Jamshid Muhtorov, 27, was indicted two years ago on charges of having links to an overseas terrorist group. He pleaded not guilty.

Muhtorov is originally from Uzbekistan but moved to Denver in 2007.

Last year, he became the first defendant to have been formally notified by U.S. prosecutors that evidence against him had been gathered under a 2008 law that gave authority to the NSA to gather information from U.S. phone and Internet providers when the people targeted are believed to be overseas.

In a motion filed in federal court in Denver on January 29, Muhtorov's attorneys say the evidence gathered against him violated his constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure.